Thursday, January 20, 2011

BU Bridge area traffic configurartion

The 1/17/11 Boston Globe, at page 2 of the Metro section, features "BU bridge lane configuration is temporary" in addressing a question from a Brookline resident (not me).

The response from MassDOT is most interesting, as it includes a description of the final configuration when construction is concluded in December of this year (any bets?) that demonstrates the strong power of the bicycle lobby. In addition, the response makes reference to the Commonwealth Avenue bridge over the MA Turnpike Extension that will need replacing, but provides no timeframe.

The BU Bridge area will surely remain messy (on both the Boston and Cambridge sides) until the Commonwealth Avenue bridge work is completed.

And then the future may provide further messes with the proposed Charles River crossing for Phase 2 of the Urban Ring project under the BU Bridge via the Grand Junction Rail Line and on the Boston side via a viaduct under the Boston end of the Bridge to University Road via the courtesy of Boston University over its property.

Checking Google Maps, the Commonwealth Avenue bridge over the Mass. Pike for all practical purposes is the intersection of the BU Bridge and Commonwealth Avenue. On the south side, it extends pretty much to the Carlton Street Bridge (which continues to the Storrow Drive access road). On the north side, it extends to about the western end of the 808 Commonwealth Avenue building on the south side of the street.

The roadway Archie mentions which is proposed under the BU Bridge would pretty much go straight through the middle of the BU Building which is currently sitting in the block east of the BU Bridge. Naturally, that building would not survive.

About Me

Sponsored by Friends of the White Geese, Bob La Trémouille, chair/editor. Friends of the White Geese has worked since 2000 and has been a recognized Massachusetts, USA non-profit organization since 2001. Our goal is to defend the environment on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, USA.